Potential Idea

When 'Super 8' was released, I (being a sci-fi geek) practically ran to the cinema to see it. The trailers for it looked amazing and I wasn't disappointed.


Plot: "In the summer of 1979, a group of friends in a small Ohio town witness a catastrophic train crash while making a super 8 movie and soon suspect that it was not an accident. Shortly after, unusual disappearances and inexplicable events begin to take place in town, and the local Deputy tries to uncover the truth - something more terrifying than any of them could have imagined." - IMDB


By 28th August 2011, the film had grossed $244,000,000 and no doubt it has grown since then. As I watched the film, I noticed that the alien invaders aren't actually seen much until towards the end of the movie. This is a concept that I thought could work within my opening two minutes. I would love to create my own sci-fi film opening though obviously don't have the multi-million dollar budget for sets, machines and special effects that the professionals do so the idea of having an outsider obviously there, but not seen could work for me.


I created a film opening randomly and using the concept and pitched it to the class and my teacher to see whether they though it would work or if it would epically fail.


My idea:
Opening side shot of a hand writing something on a piece of paper. Voice over of a girl. It becomes apparant that the voice is reading the letter that is being written.
Shot of the back of the figure. She is female, about 17 and hunched over her desk still writing, the voice over continues. Through the voice over we learn that the girl is leaving a letter for her dad explaining that she is different, she cannot stay where she is. From outside (behind the camera), bright light flicker onto the wall infront of the girl. It is evident that news articles are stuck to the wall though their contents cannot be made out.
The girl finishes writing her letter, gets up, turns and walks slowly to the window. The voice over continues and the flashing of the lights becomes more frequent.
The voice over finishes as the girl reaches the window. She looks out, smiles and the lights become so bright that they fill the scene and hide it and from the whiteness emerge the opening credits.
I am then hoping to have a few artsy, creative titles.


Happily, I received unanimous positive feedback from my class. People said that it was interesting, different and that it was good that I wasn't giving too much away. I also pitched the ideas to a few of my friends who aren't taking Media Studies to see how it appealed to them. They too were curious about the lights and thought that my idea would be good as long as I could capture the ambience of the lights right.

PROS & CONS OF MY IDEA:

Pros:
- don't need any expensive special effects as you never see the outsider in the opening
- only need one actress
- only need one set

Cons:
- will probably have to find someone who lives in a bungalow or has a bedroom downstairs so that we can easily set up the flashing lights outside.
- artsy titles means i will be spending a lot of time staring at a computer screen
- unsure of whether audiences will get the gist of the film without having seen the outsider


I'm aware that I need to develop the idea more - think about character and how I would shoot it etc, but I think that it is a definite possibility.